The Rocketeer (1991). Actually, It Is Rocket Science. 

NEVER understood why this film fell so short. Saw it in the theater when I was 16yo and loved it. Every friend who saw it, whether based on my recommendation or not, loved it. A lot of people just feel compelled to even give it a chance.

The Rocketeer was such a respectful comic book adaptation. This is a fantastic example of how to use the source material to make a great movie. You're right, the movie holds up very well, I just recently re-watched it. I've loved it ever since I saw it in theaters as a kid.

Peak Jennifer Connelly.

Disney really mistreats this movie just because it didnt bring in a certain amount of money. Its so great and underrated. I wish they'd release a special edition with all the promo material and some commentaries.

Reminds me of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow’s popularity.

One of the reasons this didn't light up the box office is that Disney dumped it, early on and did little marketing, beyond the usual trailers. Part of the issue was a lawsuit, brought by Marvel Comics, against Dave Stevens, claiming he infringed upon their Rocketeers, a group of bad guys, in a solo story of a minor hero, The Torpedo, in Marvel Premiere. Stevens was dragged into a long fight and Disney didn't support him and also pulled back from the film, but it was too far in post production to kill it (unlike today, where they will kill it after spending all of the money and having a finished product). Stevens was exonerated and there was an earlier feature, called the 3 Rocketeers, in the 50s (at Harvey, I believe). Disney basically canceled plans to heavily promote the film and it had to live on word-of-mouth, beyond the earlier in-theater point-of-sale promotional cutouts (featuring the deco art of the hero, in flight, in a pseudo 3D effects) and the theatrical poster and trailers. Beyond that, there was the novelization (from comic book and Star Trek writer Peter David) and a movie adaptation comic (featuring art by comic legend Russ Heath). That was it. Betty was changed to Jenny, not because of her being a nude model; but because of the real life Bettie Page, who directly inspired the character. At the time or production, she was either still residing or had finally left a mental institution, after about a decade, after an incident of violence, related to mental illness. Page was not a public figure and her likeness was being used without consent or compensation, including by Stevens. She eventually engaged in an interview with LA Weekly and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and retained an agent, to gain some income from the use of her likeness. One of the first people to pay her for use of her likeness was Stevens, who did it without prompting, out of respect. He got to meet Page and became a sort of surrogate son, helping her with errands and showing her movies, including his own, with the aid of Hugh Hefner, who had featured Page in an early Playboy. The change to Howard Hughes as the inventor of the rocket pack was necessitated by the original allusion that the creator was pulp adventure hero Doc Savage, who appeared in the comic, along with assistants Monk and Ham. Because Doc Savage's rights were controlled elsewhere, he could not appear in the film and aviation magnate and maverick Howard Hughes (who was also an inspiration for Tony Stark, in Iron Man) was used, instead. Neville Sinclair was based on the unsubstantiated stories that Errol Flynn was a Nazi sympathizer and possible spy, which was ridiculous. Flynn volunteered for military service but was rejected due to health issues, related to a past bout of tuberculosis..

"I'll miss Hollywood " then slams into the 4 letters LAND from the "Hollywoodland" sign. Such an inspired bit of humour!

Nice to hear the Fireball XL5 theme again.

The Nationals mentioned in the film are probably the National Air Races. According to Wikipedia, the National Air Races are a series of pylon and cross country aircraft races that were held in places like Cleveland Ohio since 1920. Secord and Peevy were probably preparing for this event. However, the Nationals usually took place in September, so Secord would have an entire year to prepare.

The "other" William Campbell was also known by another name. Trelane, Squire of Gothos

Such a handsome period movie.

This movie was one of the best.

Yeah, I always liked this film. Not only due to my Jennifer Connelly crush I have had since Labyrinth. In fact one of our Chihuahuas is named after her. Milo Jennifer. He doesn't seem to mind. It seems like a film before it's time before all the superhero films took over.

5.18...Beautiful use of the theme tune from 'Fireball XL5'. Lmao!!! What a great fun film. Nice to see it get the Stam Fine treatment.

I saw this movie 10 times in the movie theater when it came out. I LOVE it! I was already a fan of the comic, but the film tied all the splintered story elements from the comic into a near perfect script. The only gripe I had was them not using Bettie Page as Cliff's gf. I have a bunch of Rocketeer merch and signed Dave Stevens' art too. Thanks for the review.

Timothy Dalton was clearly having the time of his life in this movie.

Love The Rocketeer!

Great movie ❤

Some of James Horner's catchiest music.

Bill Campbell's 2nd greatest film after the wonderful 'Out There'

Loved this at the cinema. One of the best superhero films between the Richard Donna Superman and the beginning of the MCU. (Behind the Matrix, which is definitely a superhero origin story.) Best line: “It wasn’t lies, it was acting.”

I absolutely adore this movie. So fun!

Your use of the "Fireball XL5" theme (sung by Don Spencer who went on to present the Australian & British versions of "Play School") made me laugh out loud. Is that series on your to do list?

If brunettes are your thing(and they are mine) there is not a hotter brunette in history than Jennifer Connelly..Especially a Jennifer in her early 20’s!.Breathtaking!

Compliments for the review! I liked the film, but I LOVED the review...

I saw it in the theater as well, I thought it was great on the level of the first Idiana Jones!

You forgot used Rocket pack in Children's TV show, Ark II in 1970s. Timothy Dalton as bad guy was interesting. He appears again as Prince Baron in the 1980s remake of Flash Gordon

Liked this film, it was pretty good, I also liked the original b/w serial which was shown in the uk in the 80s

That is a great movie and the casting was perfect

That Lothar is no Rondo Hatton, but he makes a good heel.

King of the Rocket men

Burned Butt Bob - missed opportunity

I loved this film...almost as period perfect as HUDSUCKER PROXY, and the Spielbergesque...Nazis included... pulp period cliffhangerism and gangsterish verily be as fabled as the daze of yore. Alan Arkin, a Bond better as over top villain, the bodacious babe...sorry she is intended as such... . Golly gee hero equal to that anti--mummy, pro Rachel Weisz and son of self buried Walken actor feller... . did a Tarzan parody... dang

I saw it at the cinema back in the day and thought it was amazing don't understand why it flopped ?

Yet another victim of "Batman was such a hit! Quick, let's adapt every comic we can get!" thinking without realizing that, in fact, it's really just Baman. Just Batman, just Batman... Right, Rocketeer. Jennifer Connelly does such a great job capturing the look of Bettie Page... that's Rando Hatton... Errol Flynn... literally Howard Hughes... yeah, that's my complaint about this movie, these aren't characters, they're caricatures. Dave Stewart: "Yes!" Me: "No!"

How weird this popped up on my recomendations ... I'm just putting the final licks of paint on my Rocketeer helmet. The jetpack is next...already half 3d-printed in metal :) Little surprised the 1988 game "Rocket-Ranger" wasn't mentioned...clearly an inspiration.

They rent the Rocketeer.

Dibs on Zombies of the Stratosphere as a band name!

AKELA And The Killer Bees.

Why aren't his legs on fire?

I do love this movie.

I dont remember his real name. But I call him "evil Pierce Brosnan." You know who im talking about.

👍👍👍🎥

I think the lead is part of the problem in this one. He’s written as a bit of an idiot, especially with his girlfriend, but he’s a bit light on charm. They needed someone like Michael J. Fox or Sean Patrick Flannery who can pull off loveably dumb but charismatic. I love Dalton in this but would have loved to have seen Cary Elwes get a stab at another Errol Flynn role. The script isn’t quite there, for my money. Connelly is criminally underused.

The Rocketater was no worse than any other comic film around that time, I think that the nostalgic "old timey" concept didn't always appeal to the general audiences.

I thought it was a great example of how you could simplify a comic to its essentials. In the comic, the rocket pack belongs to the pulp character Doc Savage (who is never mentioned by name, for copyright reasons, but it's clearly Doc and his associates). The film's change to Howard Hughes is a brilliant piece of rethinking. (Making the girlfriend less based on Bettie Page, less so perhaps). The fact that the character kept the costume from the comic is nothing less than a miracle (and according to Dave Stevens was something they had to fight for with Disney!). This is a great review-- I was in my early 20s when it came out and I loved it, but I felt at the time like this would have been so much better as a Touchstone picture, and for it to have more of the edge of an Indiana Jones movie that the Walt Disney Pictures brand wasn't really into. But... it's kind of like Hocus Pocus in that the way it found an audience particularly with kids of the '90s and I'm glad that's the case.

Did you ever do cannonball run? Lousy film.

Imagine this movie with Brendan Frasier in it. Not Airheads Brendan but The Mummy Brandon. The leads lack of "lead energy" is the main reason this movie failed, in my opinion. In fact Timothy Dalton has more of that energy than Campbell. Other than that it's a good movie. Shame we didn't get more. I don't want anybody to pick up the IP now because the lead will be even more messed up. I remember playing the game on my computer and I could never hack the flying part of the game so I never finished it. I should watch a play through on youtube. The game was called The Rocket Ranger and was released in 1988, long before the movie and so it's only inspired by the comic books, not the movie.

i like humor in videos but not when it's at a level geared for 7 year olds, or when it's constant and desperate. you're not my babysitter but you're trying to entertain me like one.

Loved this movie when I was little.

Such a shame this movie is almost forgotten. One of my favorite adventure movies.

This was on TV so many times when I was younger and it was always a great watch. Fun, wholesome and timeless in the context in which it was set. Oh… and Jennifer Connelly.

Love this film, very under appreciated in my opinion,. Its a fun romp with great performances all round.

Jennifer was amazing. I cannot believe I was 18 back then, the summer before going to college....much nostalgia. To be fair, it was hard to compete against Terminator II and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves!

I loved the throughline of the spelling bee in this video. Great work, Stam. You always get a laugh from me!

Loved it when i saw it on cinema release. As an adult I really appreciate how authentically they made it look and feel like the 1930's (something that The Phantom also did well if you want to do a double-feature at home).

The main theme still plays in my head on a regular basis - it has such a sense of wonder and adventure to it! I love it.

I always felt Disney must have brought back in Joe Johnston for Captain America because of The Rocketeer. (Not that Johnston didn't do solid work for Disney and others in the years in-between). The two films are remarkably similar in style to the point where you could accuse CA or ripping off The Rocketeer if these weren't standard WWII themes. Evans and Campbell both play similar heroes, and CA's Howard Stark is portrayed just like Howard Hughes in the Rocketeer.

1. jennifer connelly..yum. 2. good fun..pulp fiction fun. 3. did i mention jennifer connely?

More screen time from Jennifer Connelly would have been nice. Some nice plots twists in the movie.

One part of my unofficial 1990's Pulpverse trilogy, along with The Shadow and The Phantom. I always watch these movies at consecutive order and pretend it's the same universe.

I loved the comic book and was so excited when I heard there was a movie version coming out. I went to see it in the theatre and enjoyed it immensely. It was such a shame that it didn't do well at the box office. I'm really not sure about a remake or a reboot though. To me, this film is just pitch perfect and I just can't imagine it being done better, but who knows. Years later, when I got it on DVD, I took it over to my dad's place and we watched it together. He actually grew up in the era the film is set in and used to love going to the matinees to see the old serials. The movie gave him great nostalgia vibes and he loved it. It is one of my fondest memories watching it with him. It's still one of my all-time favourite movies.

Movies are hurtin right now..But this is one sequel I would absolutely go to the theaters to see

Feel like the film does a better job of establishing everything than the source material did, which is rare. Fun adventure, should have done better than it did Wait, did you say catty-corner?

This review rocks, good on you Stam

However dangerous the rocket pack, it was still safer than a Tucano, as James Horner sadly found out.

Child me always conflated this with the Rocket Ranger, the Cinemaware game for the Amiga. Good times. Haven’t seen Rocketeer since I was a kid and that was only once. This review makes me wanna watch it again, as a near 40 year old

Maybe if they'd started the movie in the 1940s and then jumped forward to present day (like Superman did in 1978) it might have caught people's attention. We still didn't have jetpacks in 1991 and, indeed, still don't have them here in the 21st century.

Bill Campbell was on the TV show “Crime Story” 🤗 Jennifer Connelly character was based on Betty Page 🥰💕💋

Still holding out for a Stan Fine review of the Superhero Aussie classic 'The Return of Captain Invincible' - also starring Alan Arkin!

You forgot to mention Ed Lauter, always dependable as a sadistic bad guy or as a crusty good guy!

I loved this movie and watch it whenever I get a chance. Well done, some of the acting is a little cringy but it's spot on to the original comic. Highly underrated.

Decent enough storyline that remained easy to follow; for the time, the effects were ok. I have fond memories of the film. I'm not too fussed there wasn't another in the series - it works as a one-shot. Oh and hey, great review.

Is Alan Arkin ever in a rotten movie? Even his trash is worth watching.

Surprised this isn’t a Chris Pratt starting remake

The lead actor did have great hair.

Build the Cat Submarine! Remember, if you build it, they will purr.

Along the same lines (underappreciated early-90s Batman wannabes) I'm a little surprised you haven't reviewed the Alec Baldwin version of The Shadow.

the gee bee racer and their airplane races...big fun!!!!

This is knida Captain America AND Ironman in one character. with the real life inspiration for Stark's dad being a character in the story.

I'd watch anything with Alan Arkin in it.

What I did like is how this really softened the comic which is pretty Racy in comparison

I was 12, saw this in theaters. Fun movie thought it was good. Old now still think the same, good plot, well paced and early 90’s J Connelly..

Wasn't it based on a comic?

I love this movie. I saw it in the theater with great anticipation and absolutely loved it. The 1930s setting, the cheesey science fiction premise, every character, the in your face patriotism, it's just everything I enjoy in a movie. Add it to the long list of movies that I like but were critical and box office failures.

If I am remembering correctly, wasn’t there an American Saturday morning TV program based on this movie?

Jennifer C, say no more...

I still enjoy this Film, I saw it the weekend it came out I was the only one in the plex the first 2 times I watched it by the 5th time the theater was half full and at the 8th it was a full plex, and I stopped watching it for over 9 years.

This movie is awesome ❤❤

Loved this movie (still one of my favorites); closest I felt to the magic of seeing Chris Reeve premiering as Superman. Shame it was a one-shot, but maybe that helps with its magic. But boy was I disappointed when my assumed wave of 30s/pulp&serial-based franchises never showed up or when they did, flopped.

Was a very good movie. Family enjoyed it, it never reached cult status. Strange.

7 Days Pal

Wired. I always thought you already reviewed this movie. Either way I'm glad you did.

This had some of your best jokes and that's saying something.

For some reason I didn't like it at the time, but looking back at it now it seems like a decent movie.

Always loved this movie

Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo also wrote(with Bilson directing) one of my favorite good bad movies, Zone Troopers(1985), a sci-fi adventure war film set during WWII where American soldiers fight Nazis with the help of some aliens.

Didn’t like it as a kid But as an adult...I think it rocks. It’s good, Indiana Jones good

21 year old Jennifer Connelly. Proof that, if there is a God, he is most definitely a man.

Was super fortunate to have actually seen this gem in the theater. My friend and I were even a bit on the old side for it's target audience (just crossing into my 20s). But, we TRULY loved it! Frankly, we found it was just about Indiana Jones level perfection. I am STILL disappointed in the lack of a trilogy, which this was perfectly set up to launch. It still baffles me how films like this got made but the studio seemed "meh" on them. Another Disney movie that came out about the same time that was just as stupendous and equally unloved by it's own creators was White Fang. Good luck finding that thing on any media/streaming. It's like they're as ashamed of it as they are Song of the South, but nobody was complaining. Just bizarre. Anyway, Rocketeer was one of the last movies that activated that adventure-y love of movies I had from childhood. There was a few sporadic flukes, but they were fading rapidly by the early 90s.